Saudi city bans all tobacco product sales

A town in Saudi Arabia has banned the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products at all shops as part of plan to become a smoking-free town, according to an Emirates247.com story quoting an Al Riyadh newspaper report.

The southern town of Taif has apparently informed all shops and supermarkets that they should stop selling tobacco and warned them that violators will face tough penalties.

There was no mention of how much notice the retail operators were given.

But the story said that scores of health inspectors had been deployed to check compliance with the decision, which was described as “the first” in the kingdom of nearly 30 million people.